Kolkata: Abhimanyu Easwaran led Bengal cricket team have reached the semifinal of the Dr. K. Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament after they beat Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy by 10 wickets.
After winning the toss, Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy opted to bat first. Bengal bowlers bowled brilliantly in the first innings to restrict them on 176. Aamir Gani (3/40) and Pradipta Pramanik (3/51) were the star of their side as they both shared 3 wickets each. In reply Bengal posted a mammoth score of 351 runs on the board and took a crucial lead of 175 runs. Writtick Chatterjee (96), Aamir Gani (50), Abhishek Mitra (63), Pradipta Pramanik (45) all scored for Bengal to take the team to a good position.
After coming into bat in the second innings Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy reached 193 after before getting all out and gave Bengal to score just 19 runs to win. Pradipta Pramanik again took 3 wickets for his side in the second innings and he was well backed by Ananta Saha who finished his spell with 3/25.
Pradipta Pramanik was out from cricket for almost three months last season as he had an ACL injury on his knee.” It was my first match after recovering from my injury. I am happy that I have contributed for my side,” said Pradipta.
There is a buzz that Bengal could leave Pragyan Ojha in this season. On being asked about it Pradipta said,” CAB will take the decision regarding this matter but I am fully ready to play for Bengal in Ranji Trophy.”
Sudip Chatterjee has left the squad to play for India A in South Africa. In his absence young Abhimanyu Easwaran is leading the side.” We did some silly mistake in our last couple of matches, but in this match all the players have done everything right. Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy have players like experienced Iqbal Abdulla and a win against them is really significant for us and we would want to continue this momentum in the semi-final too,” said Easwaran.
Bengal will face Maharashtra in the semi-final from August 9.